Adjustable or articulating beds provide selectable adjustment of the lower or foot portion and upper or head portion of a mattress from a traditional flat or horizontal position. Therefore, the head or foot of a user can be elevated as desired, for example, for comfort, to provide relief from snoring or to facilitate reading. The upper and lower portions are adjustable independent of each other. Adjustment is provided by an articulating foundation mounted on a frame and supporting the mattress.
While a twin-sized adjustable bed is arranged for a single user, larger beds such as full-sized, queen-sized and king-sized adjustable beds are arranged to fit two users, one on either side of the bed. The adjustable bed foundations for these larger bed sizes can be configured to provide separate upper and lower portion adjustment for each side of the bed. Separate and independent adjustment for each side of the mattress, however, would not work with a conventional single mattress. Separate mattresses would be needed. For example, two separate twin mattresses could be used for king-sized bed frames. However, the use of two separate mattresses may not be comfortable, and separate mattresses are not an option for queen-sized and full-sized adjustable beds.
A solution that has been proposed is the use of a single mattress that provides for separate movement of the head and foot sections of either side of the mattress using a split down the middle of the mattress from either end that leaves a central portion that extends the entire width of the mattress. However, this split represents a binding point as the two sides move relative to each other. In addition, previous attempts do not always provide the desired level of flexibility and positioning for each individual section. Therefore, an improved mattress is desired that provides for independent movement of both head and foot sections on either side of a two-person mattress while eliminating binding between adjacent sections and facilitating increased flexibility in each individual section.